Although I have not yet selected a thesis topic, I have joined a laboratory that studies various aspects of herpes simplex virus (HSV) entry into cells. Recently, members of the laboratory have cloned several human and mouse cDNAs that encode cell surface receptors for the entry of HSV into cells. Some areas that I can pursue for my dissertation research include: (i) Differences between HSV-1 and HSV-2 in ability to use various receptors for entry into cells, to determine whether differences in biology of the two serotypes are determined in part by ability to infect different cell types. (ii) Differences in viral requirements for entry that depend on which co-receptor is available, making use of viral mutants altered in one of more of the viral glycoproteins involved in entry.